I haven’t had any ‘real’ tea in my cupboard for a while. I have some Bamboo leaf tea blends that I really like, but I was starting to miss real tea. Especially a really good white tea.

When my package from Whispering Pines arrived yesterday, I put on my happy face and opened it right away. Yay for new tea! But when I saw the little handwritten note with my name spelled wrong, I made a sad face. (′︿‵｡) Everyone is always trying to run off with my second ‘e’ lol

Fortunately, the big fluffy leaves of this white tea improved my mood again. I love big fluffy white tea leaves! And even more so when they brew into a tasty tea as these do. This is now my favorite white tea. It is similar to an old favorite I used to get from elsewhere, but recent batches of that one have been disappointing. I’ll have to hope that this one will be available for a while so that I can stock up (but hard to do while Im on a budget!).

The flavor is pleasantly complex. I pick up the honeydew and Eucalyptus honey notes for sure. The rest I can’t describe so precisely, but it’s all yummy.

I realized that I had spelled your name wrong like 5 seconds after I taped up the package…and I was out of tape! So it was either I run to get more tape, miss the post office cut-off time, and you spend one more day waiting for tea or I publicly apologize for mis-spelling your name on Steepster but you get your package a day earlier ;)

Dearest Shelley,

I deeply apologize for mis-spelling your name. I assure you that it will not happen again. I, too, know what it’s like to have my name mis-spelled often. Most people mess up the second e in my name as well!

pfft, out of tape! I dunno if I believe that. haha. But anyway, I was only adding the details about my name to this note for dramatic effect. So, in a way, it is somewhat fortuitous that you misspelled it. :p

:) Hehe, totally out of tape! I’m finally moving back to Michigan, so lots of tape is being used for packing too!

In fact, I want to thank you. Right now is crucial time for orders for me. Over the past two years (the life of my company), all I have wanted to do is move back home. Whispering Pines was created as a way to fund the move back but has become so much more than that. This move is monumental in my life, both for personal reasons and for Whispering Pines. Moving back to the land of the inspiration is bigger for me than I can even explain. I left my heart and soul at home and you and everyone ordering here on Steepster are helping me get back :)

I realized that I had spelled your name wrong like 5 seconds after I taped up the package…and I was out of tape! So it was either I run to get more tape, miss the post office cut-off time, and you spend one more day waiting for tea or I publicly apologize for mis-spelling your name on Steepster but you get your package a day earlier ;)

Dearest Shelley,

I deeply apologize for mis-spelling your name. I assure you that it will not happen again. I, too, know what it’s like to have my name mis-spelled often. Most people mess up the second e in my name as well!

pfft, out of tape! I dunno if I believe that. haha. But anyway, I was only adding the details about my name to this note for dramatic effect. So, in a way, it is somewhat fortuitous that you misspelled it. :p

:) Hehe, totally out of tape! I’m finally moving back to Michigan, so lots of tape is being used for packing too!

In fact, I want to thank you. Right now is crucial time for orders for me. Over the past two years (the life of my company), all I have wanted to do is move back home. Whispering Pines was created as a way to fund the move back but has become so much more than that. This move is monumental in my life, both for personal reasons and for Whispering Pines. Moving back to the land of the inspiration is bigger for me than I can even explain. I left my heart and soul at home and you and everyone ordering here on Steepster are helping me get back :)

I simplified my ratings to single numbers rather than ranges because I can’t precisely compare so many teas with a system more detailed than this.

An unrated tea is most often one that I recognize as having significant notable quality, but that does not suit me personally. Sometimes, I leave teas unrated for other reasons, such as I am undecided or I brewed it wrong, etc.

Note: Boiling temp. barely reaches 200 where I am (and a few times it sticks at 195, I assume due to unexplainable shifts in altitude or the position of the moon. . .aliens?. . .).